Only Human
by Batshiz
Summary: I blame Tobi for this. Pein's POV, set before anyone dies or whatever. I suck at summaries... :P Oh yeah, it's a oneshot.


Personally, I blame Tobi for this.

Now, normally I'm not the kind of person to let eight of the world's toughest criminals go out and have fun. I mean, do I look like a pushover to you?

But Tobi is one of those people who have such a sweet personality; you just can't deny them anything, whether that is cookies, candy or… festivals. Even so, I wouldn't have given up an entire day of training time if it wasn't for the fact that everyone else wanted to go too.

I at least expected Kisame to make a point about being incredibly vulnerable, what with the god-knows-how-many ryou bounties on our heads. Hell, I would even have settled for one of Kakuzu's 'Time is money' speeches.

I suppose even bad guys need a vacation sometimes. Watching them now, I can see Sasori using chakra strings to manipulate the stuffed toys on the back of the shooting game, Kisame happily chatting to the goldfish that are up for prizes. Even Hidan seems to be refraining from killing everyone, instead teaching a bunch of small children some new vocabulary. I somehow doubt he's lecturing them on morality.

Somewhat predictably, Konan is still standing next to me. We've barely moved since we walked in. She looks different somehow. It's probably that her face isn't hidden behind a veil of rain today. This is one of the few occasions we venture out of Amegakure, because after all, a city needs its God and his angel.

There's a shriek from somewhere behind us. I instantly turn around, looking for signs of an attack. Luckily, it's just some kid who fell over.

I turn back, and see Konan looking at me as if to say 'You're too paranoid.' Well, I am, aren't I? It kind of comes with the job. I start walking forwards, because we're getting some weird looks from parents. Understandable. They probably see us as the type who'll fill their children's heads with ideas about Music, and Tattoos.

Which is a new take on the situation, as most parents would be worried about us filling their children's heads with shurikens. I turn to Konan.

"Is there anything you want to do?" I don't mean the question, but to anyone who might overhear us, I'm a normal guy asking his normal girlfriend if she's okay. Konan just looks at me and smiles silently. A moment later, a small paper rose is sitting in her hands. As I watch, it transforms into a bird, which then flies away.

Sometimes, Konan creeps me out. If I ever die of a paper cut, I'll know exactly who did it, because she knows exactly how to kill someone with nothing but paper. She wasn't always like this. I've known her since we were kids and we used to be friends, sort of. But now… She's an angel, a servant of a fabrication, and nothing more.

There's a cough. Sasori and Kakuzu are standing beside us. Kakuzu looks as if he's about to prove that art isn't eternal after all. From the amount of candy that Sasori is holding, it's obvious why. I'm about to ask if there's a problem, when I notice a small clay spider running across the ground in front of them. In seconds, Deidara has run in front of us yelling something along the lines of

"Get back here before you kill someone! I NEED TO CHECK SOMETHING!" There was the slightest trace of an 'un' in there as well, but I doubt that's at all relevant. That man is insane, I swear. He also insists on referring to us as 'master' although that's mostly directed at Sasori recently. I'm about to keep talking when the ground starts to shake around my feet. I step backwards, (making sure the others do the same) in time to see what looks like some kind of green clam appear out of the earth.

"Zetsu, we aren't supposed to be so conspicuous…" I'm somewhat startled by that. I hadn't realised that Itachi was standing next to me. I quickly regain my composure though.

"Itachi's right. If we can't keep from being seen by everyone, we'll have to leave." I add, trying to make it sound like I didn't just state the obvious. It was obviously the wrong thing to say, because suddenly everyone is looking at me. It's only now that I realise what a bunch of kids I've invited into this organization. I start to walk away, because I really can't deal with this right now.

Thank go- thank me that Konan interrupts me before I get the chance to summon something and trample the place.

"Pein-sama, I think it's worth sticking around." She looks at me with completely cold eyes. I wonder if she learned that from Itachi? In her hand is the bird from earlier, flapping its paper wings. It unfolds so that we can all see what's written on it.

"A… fireworks show, un?" Deidara is failing miserably at hiding the interest in his voice.

"It does look interesting, now that you mention it…" That's Itachi, making my life even worse. We all know he's not interested in anything.

"Please, leader-sama? Can we go?" I'm almost grateful for Tobi being honest about the situation. At least he can admit to being a complete idiot who gets distracted by such pretty things.

"Fine," I say, with a sigh of acceptance, "We'll wait for the fireworks. But then it's straight back to base, you hear?" Tobi actually jumps for joy, making Zetsu put this weird expression on his face, like he's rolling his eyes and trying to hide a smile at the same time. I watch, slightly amused. Kisame breaks things up with a simple:

"Hey, lunch is on Kakuzu!" Getting him a glare from the man in question and a laugh from Hidan, who barely avoids getting that pretentious head of his cut off.

"I said no violence!" I yell, catching up with them. I think I hear Konan laughing, but I doubt it, because she hardly ever seems to laugh properly anymore.

……………………………………………………………………………………

It's evening now, and I'm prepared to admit that I just might be enjoying myself a little. We spent most of the day looking around stalls in the vague hope that we could persuade Kakuzu to buy something ridiculously expensive. Hidan surprised us all by actually lasting this long with all of his limbs intact.

Konan hasn't stopped smiling yet, and I don't think she's faking it. She's only made one paper creature, and that was for Tobi. It was an elephant, made out of yet another promo poster.

We all take our seats by the field set aside for the show. I say seats, but I actually mean 'spots on the ground'. We don't have anything to sit on, and I can't help but notice Deidara's complete horror at the thought of getting mud on his hands. In his hands. Whatever.

Sasori must have noticed as well, because he sighs, like he's irritated, and spreads his cloak out on the ground. I laugh inside, because Deidara immediately spreads out, leaving no room for the puppet to sit down. That's what he gets for caring, I suppose.

Zetsu obviously isn't bothered by mud, because he sits down by Kisame. Itachi looks a little confused for a second, as if he isn't sure where he's meant to be.

Ah. So the Mangekyou really does affect your eyesight. I make a mental note to have Itachi disposed of if this gets in the way of his missions.

I feel kind of guilty for thinking that, especially now, when we all seem so happy. I can feel Konan's eyes glaring at me, as if she knew.

There's a sudden torrent of abuse from somewhere to my left. Hidan has just discovered that Kakuzu's budget will not stretch to something to sit on. Idiot. If there were things to sit on, we wouldn't all be covered in mud.

Deidara excluded, of course. It's weird, I thought he would like sitting in the dirt, considering his hands eat it half the time. It seems that Sasori's solved his 'no space' problem. I can't see very well, as the torchlight is fading fast, but he was holding something over Deidara's hair a second ago. Now the artist's acting like a brat, refusing to look at his precious 'danna'.

Before I can ask Konan if she's alright (she's been staring straight ahead through all of this), I'm interrupted by a spontaneous round of applause. We're plunged into complete darkness as the fireworks begin.

They're beautiful. Even Tobi is staying silent to watch the random sprays of light. I think we're all in awe of them. They light up the area around me, and I see Hidan leaning back on Kakuzu, who for once doesn't seem to want to push him away. Another flash, and Tobi is making sure Zetsu can see by pointing out every single firework. I start to wonder if Itachi would benefit from this more, because he's trying to look where the noise is coming from, instead of the actual image.

After the initial shock, I pretty much tune out. They're just fire and colours, after all. Sure, everyone might be happy now, but tomorrow we'll go back to our normal selves, merciless killers with no appreciation of this. I doubt it will even be brought up. Today's been wonderful, and tomorrow, and the days after that, just can't compare. We'll go back to living our lives, maybe thinking back on this and wondering why we bothered.

There's a tug on my sleeve, and I half expect it to be Tobi, but it's Konan. Instead of the usual paper flower in her hand, she's just holding it out to me. It takes awhile for me to work out what this means, but eventually I hold my hand out as well, taking hold of hers.

Then I look back at the fireworks and they seem even better, because tonight something is different from normal, tonight we can forget all we've done, all we've caused, all our failures and losses. Tonight I can pretend I'm don't have to return to a city shrouded in eternal rain, pretend that someone else is protecting everyone, pretend that nobody is going to turn up at my temple tomorrow with an offering, just so they might possibly be spared.

For just one night, while colours dance over our heads and people all around us live out their dull, unimportant lives…

We're human again. And for that, I would give everything I have.

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Okay, that was depressing...

Review if you like, or if you hate it. I eat reviews. And if I don't, Zettie will.

meh.


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